A 1964 Porsche 904 GTS formerly owned by actor Robert Redford headlines Bonhams annual Grandes Marques a Paris collector car auction scheduled for February 3 at Le Grand Palais Ephémère in conjunction with Retromobile.
While Bonhams boasts of the car’s celebrity ownership, those closely involved in the collector car and vintage racing scene might be even more impressed by the fact that the Porsche 904 GTS originally was owned by Steve Earle, founder of the Monterey Historic Races. The car was raced by its subsequent owner, Steve Berg, and later was acquired by Redford, who kept it for nearly a decade, Bonhams reports.
Porsche’s 904 model was, Bonhams adds, “the last of the famous Porsche ‘giant killer’ racing cars,” a mid-engine, fiberglass-bodied GT racer. The auction house expects the ex-Redford car to bring €1.3 million to €1.6 million ($1.47 million to $1.82 million).
Modern-exotic highlights of the auction’s docket include a 2015 Ferrari LaFerrari and one of only 95 1999 Bugatti EB110 GT coupes, this one driven only 10,000 kilometers (6,200 miles) since new.
Vintage stars include a 1921 Hispano-Suiza H6B Torpedo from the Dolleschel Collection, a 1902 Panhard & Levassor Type A2 7HP tonneau, and a 1934 Mercedes-Benz 380K Cabriolet A.
Also on the docket — and expected to sell for up to €2 million ($2.27 million) — is the 1938 Bugatti Type 57C special coupe known as “Le Patron” and used pre-war by Ettore Bugatti and factory racers Jean-Pierre Wimille and Robert Benoist, and post-war by Bugatti general manager Pierre Marco.
The car, with the final coachwork designed by Bugatti’s son, Jean, also had a 20-year history as the development vehicle for evaluating new components.
With the glass-roofed Grand Palais undergoing major renovations, for 2022 that Bonhams Paris sale will takes place in the Grand Palais Ephémère, a new exhibition pavilion on the Champs de Mars near the Eiffel Tower.
